All Articles: World of Warcraft

August is ending, and with it an historically slow Summer for new releases. But the dog days have one last gasp of gaming to give, and it’ll be a particularly interesting week if you love hunting giant monsters…

Blizzard has decided to expand World of Warcraft once again with World of Warcraft: Legion for the PC. The sixth expansion to the wildly popular MMORPG will boost the level cap to 110 and introduce the Immortal Army of Illidan the Betrayer.

The battlefield will be further littered with giant monsters thanks to Bandai Namco’s God Eater 2: Rage Burst, a PS4 game where players use “God Arcs” to battle demonic entities known as Aragami. The Aragami like to chow down on lowly humans, much like the Titans at the center of Koei Tecmo’s Attack On Titan, another adaptation of the popular anime for the PS4 and Xbox One.

Blizzard has announced that World of Warcraft‘s sixth expansion, Legion, will be available on August 30. In addition to an increased level cap, Legion will add a number of new features and options to World of Warcraft:

New Hero Class: Demon Hunter — Unleash the demon within as an all-new melee hero class gifted with preternatural mobility—and the ability to metamorphose into hellish new forms.

New Continent: The Broken Isles — Discover the fate of a lost night elf civilization, confront twisted fragments of the Emerald Nightmare, and hunt agents of the Legion in all-new zones. Forge your own path through the Broken Isles as you explore content that dynamically scales to your level.

Boost to Level 100 — Come fully prepared to battle the Legion with a level-100 character boost, and fight alongside your friends in this epic new chapter of World of Warcraft.

New Feature: Class Hall — Gather with fellow members of your class and unite followers of your order—including iconic characters from Warcraft lore—to carry out missions at your command.

New PvP Honor System — Fight for fame, glory, and a range of new PvP-specific powers as you face the opposing faction in Arenas and Battlegrounds.

Naturally, Legion also adds a significant new chapter to the long-running MMO’s lore:

In this expansion chronicling the events following Warlords of Draenor, all hellfire breaks loose when the warlock Gul’dan, betrayer of the orcs and twisted servant of the Burning Legion, unleashes a demonic invasion force upon Azeroth unlike any the Horde and the Alliance have ever faced. To save their world from annihilation, heroes must unlock the mysteries of the mythic Broken Isles, master powerful Artifact weapons, and strike a forbidden pact with the Demon Hunters of the Illidari—vengeful disciples of the dreaded Illidan Stormrage.

Set to be released in a Standard Edition, a Digital Deluxe Edition, and a retail-only Collector’s Edition, players who pre-order World of Warcraft: Legion through WoWLegion.com will receive early access to the Demon Hunter class and the ability to boost one character up to level 100.

Activision revealed a first look at their 2016 release slate during today’s quarterly financial report… and you’ll never believe what they announced. Nah, I’m just kidding, even an amateur prognosticator could figure out what Activision has in store for this year.

First up, the publisher confirmed that Infinity Ward will develop the next entry in the Call of Duty franchise, which will be released this Fall. The developer’s most recent game was 2013’s Call of Duty: Ghosts, and right now it’s unknown if they’ll continue with that story or move in a different direction. But we do the currently untitled Call of Duty 2016 will be Infinity Ward’s first in Activision’s new three-developer cycle for the series.

Activision is also aiming to launch the sixth entry in the Skylanders series in Fall 2016. Skylanders 6 is in development at Toys For Bob and will be released alongside Skylanders Academy, a new television series based on the franchise.

Bungie’s Destiny will receive more content in 2016, but don’t expect a full-fledged sequel just yet. Another “large” expansion to the original game will be released this year, and the famed developer announced they’ll launch Destiny 2 in 2017.

Finally, Blizzard got a chance to discuss their plans for 2016, but the developer just reiterated a release schedule that we’ve known for a while. Overwatch, their upcoming hero shooter, is on track for a Spring 2016 release on the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. And World of Warcraft: Legion, the sixth expansion to the world’s favorite MMO, will be released this Summer, just after the June premiere of the Warcraft movie.

The Spring and Summer months are currently less dense with new releases than the first three months of the year, but that should change fairly soon, especially since publishers have staked a claim to every week from the beginning of April to the end of June with at least one big new release dropping every seven days.

Announced yesterday at Gamescom, the next expansion to World of Warcraft will be known as Legion. With Legion, players of Blizzard’s massively popular MMO will gain access to a new Hero Class (Demon Hunter), a new continent (The Broken Isles), and an increased Level Cap (110). The expansion will also include powerful “Artifact Weapons” to use against the demonic Burning Legion, a new “Order Hall” to recruit a regiment of NPCs, and a new PvP Honor System.

Will players need all these features to take on the Burning Legion? Probably, because they sound like bad dudes…

In this dire new chapter of the Warcraft saga, the demonic Burning Legion has returned, seeking to call forth their fallen leader—the dark titan Sargeras, Ravager of Worlds. As destruction rains across Azeroth, its heroes must seek salvation among the ruins of the Broken Isles, doomed center of ancient night elf civilization and birthplace of myths dating back to the world’s creation. In the face of hopeless odds, they must learn to master mighty Artifacts—legendary weapons that hold the potential to bring down the corrupted armies of the Legion—and strike an infernal pact with the dread Demon Hunters of the Illidari… accursed followers of the infamous Illidan the Betrayer.

We don’t yet know when World of Warcraft: Legion will be available, but a more complete rundown of the game’s features (including a very informative trailer) can be found after the break. (more…)

Blizzard has announced they will reveal the sixth expansion to World of Warcraft at this year’s Gamescom expo.

According to a post on Battle.net, the expansion will makes it worldwide debut as part of a presentation will take place on Thursday, August 6 at 12:00 PM (Eastern Time). If you’re not going to be in Cologne, Germany next week for the expo, don’t worry, Blizzard plans to livestream the entire event at BlizzGC.com.

Blizzard will host a second presentation during Gamescom on Sunday, August 9 at 11:00 AM (Eastern Time). This “World of Warcraft developer chat” will reveal more information about the MMO’s next expansion.

If you do find yourself in Cologne, Germany next week, Blizzard will have a booth at Gamescom in Hall 7.1 and they’re encouraging all their fans to stop by.

The World Video Game Hall of Fame, which is administered by the International Center for the History of Electronic Games and The Strong in Rochester, New York, has announced its inaugural list of inductees. Drum roll, please.

The 2015 Class of the World Video Game Hall of Fame includes…

Doom, id Software’s pioneering first person shooter.

Pac-Man, the dot-eating, ghost-chasing hero of every 80s arcade.

Pong, one of video gaming’s earliest arcade hits.

Super Mario Bros., the side-scroller that put the NES on the map and made Mario a household name.

World of Warcraft, Blizzard’s MMO made the genre what it is today and is still going strong after a decade.

While all of the games are at least ten years old, it’s amazing how important they still are to video gaming’s current climate. Bethesda will pull the curtain back on the next game in the Doom series at this year’s E3 Expo. Pac-Man recently celebrated his 35th anniversary and will star in a new mobile game this Summer. Super Mario Bros. is also celebrating a big anniversary this year and will influence this September’s Mario Maker. The Tetris Company, and Alexey Pajitnov, continues to license new version of Tetris and the latest, Tetris Ultimate, was released last year. Finally, Blizzard released World of Warcraft’s fifth expansion, Warlords of Draenor, in November and a sixth is already in the works.

These six games represent gaming at its greatest and are excellent choices for the Hall of Fame’s inaugural class. As part of their selection, the inductees will be on permanent view (and in playable form) at The Strong’s “eGameRevolution” exhibit.

Nine other finalists were considered for inclusion by the international committee including Angry Birds, FIFA International Soccer, The Legend of Zelda, Minecraft, The Oregon Trail, Pokemon Red/Blue, The Sims, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Space Invaders. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time until all of them are enshrined in the Hall of Fame. But if you want to campaign for your favorite game, nominees for the Class of 2016 are currently being accept at the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s website.

The Strong National Museum of Play and the International Center for the History of Electronic Games have announced the finalists for the inaugural class of the World Video Game Hall of Fame. More than a dozen classic games passed this first test on their way to video game immortality, which were selected from thousands of nominations that poured in from gamers all across the world. Nominations for the Class of 2015 were accepted from February 17 through March 31, but in case you missed out, the Hall of Fame is already accepting games for next year’s class.

This year’s inductees to the World Video Game Hall of Fame will be chosen from the finalist pool by an “international selection committee” made up of journalists, scholars, and other individuals. The inaugural class will be announced on June 4 at 10:30 AM (Eastern Time) during a ceremony at The Strong.

The finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame’s Class of 2015 include:

Angry Birds

Doom

FIFA International Soccer

The Legend of Zelda

Minecraft

The Oregon Trail

Pac-Man

Pokemon Red/Blue

Pong

The Sims

Sonic the Hedgehog

Space Invaders

Super Mario Bros.

Tetris

World of Warcraft

“The 15 finalists for the World Video Game Hall of Fame span decades, gaming platforms, and geographies… but what they all have in common is their undeniable impact on popular culture and society in general,” said Jon-Paul Dyson, the Director of the International Center for the History of Electronic Games.

Inductees into the World Video Game Hall of Fame will be selected based on the following criteria: “Icon Status,” “Longevity,” “Geographical Reach,” and “Influence.” All 15 finalists certainly qualify, but I know I’ll be rooting for Tetris.